Chapter 4 - Off to College

We finally finished unit or battalion training and were in the midst of taking our battalion tests. When several of us, sixteen I believe, received word that we had been selected to try out for an ASTP program. ASTP stood for Army Special Training Program. I don't know exactly how we were picked, but I was told it had something to do with our IQ test scores. Anyway I believe four of us were from C Battery.

I forgot to say a short time before this, Captain Fitch was transferred somewhere else and we got a new Battery Commander, Captain Frank J. Brundage, (Orchard Park, New York).

The four of us went in to talk this over with Capt. Brundage and to get his permission to go⁽¹⁾. He tried to persuade us not to go, saying he needed us and he also said he didn't think much of the program, but admitted he could not stop us from going if we had made up our minds to go. The last thing he said to us was "God help you four if you have to come back to this outfit."

Our minds were made up after we heard we would be going to college full time, six months and they would guarantee you an engineer's degree at that time. Our travel orders were cut and we said good-bye to our new found friends and the 275th or so we thought.

We traveled by way of Kansas City, Kansas and other places to Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa. A sleepy little college town with tree lined streets and brick dormitories. They housed us two to a room and the only thing that seemed military about it was they woke us up with reveille in the morning, but after a few days they started their testing program to determine if we were qualified to enter the accelerated engineering school that was about to start. We started taking tests at eight o'clock in the morning and stayed at it until four in the afternoon, every day for an entire week. Before the week was over I believe most of us had decided that this was too much for us. Two of my friends were college graduates and they weren't doing so hot themselves. The teachers or authorities got us all together one morning the next week and gave us either the good or bad news depending on how you looked at it. Out of the sixteen men fifteen had flunked the entrance exams, and were not considered capable to do the advanced work that was required in order to obtain an engineering degree in six months. This was not much news to me since the first day of testing I knew that this was too much for me, and my war would not be fought in the classroom, even though this was rather appealing at that time.

The army's old rule of hurry up and get ready to wait was in effect, and we had to spend several more days in this sleepy little town, while they were making up their mind what to do with us. Of course this didn't bother us much. The food was good and the rooms were comfortable. Then one day they informed us that we would be returned to our old outfits.

The first thing I thought of was what Capt. Brundage had said last, but anyway orders were cut, and back we went to Camp Phillips in a very slow round-about way thru Kansas City, again. On arriving at Camp Phillips guess what? The 275th had left and moved to Fort Riley, Kansas, so again new travel orders had to be issued and upon arriving at Fort Riley, guess what - only in the army could it happen twice! The 275th had left going on Tenn. maneuvers, again new travel orders had to be issued. The problem was where in Tenn. would the 275th be found. The maneuver area covered a large section of Tenn. so they decided to send us to Tent City in Camp Forrest, Tenn. They figured the 275th would pick up its mail and supplies there and we could hitch a ride back to the battalion on the mail truck. The whole army system seemed confused. We were as near lost as anyone could be in this man's army.

This lists the names of the Enlisted Personnel  from the 275th FA Bn selected to be "placed on DS at AST STAR SCU N. 4760, Grinnell College". The orders provided  for a $3 advanced payment for food during the trip from Camp Phillips to Grinnell College.

275th Personnel selected were:
          Cpl Charles N. Griggs
          Cpl James A. Price
          Pfc Charles O. Baggett
          Pfc Joseph F. Dobrowalski
          Pfc Allen F. Scoggins
          Pvt DeLoyd (NMI) Cooper
          Pvt Ray A. Crans